A State of Stillness
by CrimsonMaiden716
Summary: He was empty. Alone surrounded by friends. Frozen surrounded by warmth. And filled with hope before silver.


Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of Harry Potter

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The halls echoed with each step taken; a resonating symphony serenading ghosts and sleeping portraits alike. Passing by doors identical in their simplicity, one by one, hiding nothing but cobwebs and emptiness.

_Just like me._

A beating heart, expanding lungs, arms swinging, stomach growling; skin sunken with eyes dulled from a hurting soul. While content young students slept in their beds and grumbling professors readied their classes for the coming dawn, one lonely boy roamed the castle aimlessly, seeking neither secrets nor adventure. Hoping for company yet dreading it just the same. Craving just a little to eat yet feeling nauseous at the thought. The boy took a deep breath as he reached a crossroads. Three directions, four if he counted the direction from whence he came but he would never go back, never look to the past and think, wonder, regret.

_Pain, pain, pain. _

No, he wouldn't go back.

But what could he do? To the right the Great Hall, a way out. He could leave, leave everything. Everyone. Just walk away and forget everything that happened to him in this place. The good and the bad; erase it all and hope to start a new life. A better one.

To the left, the dungeons. Snakes and Bats alike residing in their rooms, or maybe waiting behind every corner with a wand in their hand and a curse on their lips. A risk. An adventure. Wasn't that typical of him? Expected, preordained...destined? A walking hazard. Trouble and Chaos trailed after him in the bodies of his loved ones, stalking the shadows before him waiting for another taste. Maybe he should go, just to finally feel his blood flow through his veins instead of perpetual cold; to feel alive again and less of the corpse he so resembled.

In front of him, the unknown. He could walk forward and hope something better lay in front of him. But what? He did not know. Anything would be better than this, wouldn't it? Better than ghosting through the halls at night because he could not sleep. Sitting surrounded by his friends but feeling more alone than ever. Forcing down a bite of toast and a sip of juice and feeling lead sink to the bottom of his stomach. Faking a stilted smile to those closest to him, hoping they see that it's not real,_ can't you see, please, help me, it hurts, it hurts, _and pretending that everything is okay.

_Why, why can't you see?_

The halls echoed with his breath, shaken and shallow as it was; bouncing off the walls and invading his ears as the boy made his decision. One step forward. Another and another. The entryway of the Great Hall groaned and creaked in the distance as if mocking him. He could never leave. His past would never forget him, try as he might to forget it.

Doors, so far in this unexplored space, seem wrong in their similarity to those in his Tower. The walls, alarming in their bareness; it seemed not even the oldest of portraits would reside here.

Still he walked on, until his bare feet ached and grew numb from the cold, and his eyes drooped in a familiar feeling of exhaustion.

And still he walked on, until the wide corridor slowly narrowed and scraped against the cloth covering his shoulders.

He walked on. Even as he turned sideways and inched across the floor, prolonging his journey to the unknown for as long as possible. Until. His steps slowed, and stopped. Reaching out his hand all he felt was stone. Cold, gritty, unforgiving stone.

_Don't let it end, please don't let it end, I can't go back, I can't, I can't._

Hands against the wall, increasing pressure until they shook and bruised.

The hall echoed with a sigh, a dry sob; recoiling off the wall ahead and floating into the distance behind. The boy turned around and sharply inhaled.

Moonlight shone from windows that surely weren't there before, creating puddles of luminescence in numerous shapes and patterns along the floor, rebounding off every surface except one which almost seemed to absorb the light and shine with even more brilliance. More beauty.

He walked towards it, slowly and with no small amount of apprehension. A foot away he stumbled into a chair, unnoticed until now. He frowned, _a chair?_ until a gasp caused him to look up and instantly drown in pools of silver, of mercury, glowing with shock, then incredulity, amusement, and -

The boy could only stand still as at long last the ever present chill melted from his bones, the lead fell from his stomach, and he could finally breathe_, I can breathe _for the first time in so long, _too long, I had forgotten_. A tremulous smile spread across his lips, so much less in appearance than what he showed his friends, but it was real and reciprocated in no less reserve on the face before him.

He took a breath and before he even knew what to say -

"Potter?"

"...Draco..."

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A/N: I updated the story, got a lot of the kinks and such out. I would love it if any readers left a review or even sent a PM telling me what they thought or if they see a problem I should fix. This is my first ever story on here, I hope you guys liked it!


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